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Electronic information tools in support of public participation under the Aarhus Convention

This document discusses the use of electronic information tools to support public participation in environmental decision-making, as outlined in the Aarhus Convention. It highlights the importance of developing national strategies for e-participation, strengthening e-content creation, and utilizing the Aarhus Clearinghouse for Environmental Democracy. The text also extends the mandate of the Task Force on Electronic Information Tools and provides examples of good practice. Additionally, it mentions the status of ratification and reporting, and highlights ICT projects related to public participation.

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Electronic information tools in support of public participation under the Aarhus Convention

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  1. Electronic information tools in support of public participation under the Aarhus Convention Michael Stanley-Jones Environmental Information Management Officer Aarhus Convention Secretariat United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Expert Group on Public Participation Geneva, 7-8 July 2009

  2. Decision III/3 on electronic information tools and the clearinghouse mechanism 4. Encourages countries that have not yet taken steps to use the full potential for ICT as a means to significantly improve the involvement of the public in environmental decision-making to develop adequately resourced national programmes and strategies for e-participation in such decision-making, and in particular: (a) To develop and implement e-government and e-participation applications at all levels, thereby furthering access to government information and services and enabling the public to participate electronically in environmental decision-making; (b) To strengthen the creation of quality e-content addressing environmental information, at the regional, national and international levels;

  3. Welcomes the further development of theAarhus Clearinghouse for Environmental Democracy and the application of the recommendations in decision II/3 to promote the wider use of electronic information tools as an effective instrument for the implementation of the Convention’s provisions on the dissemination of environmental information and the promotion of public participation in environmental decision-making through electronic means;

  4. 9. Decides to extend in time the mandate of the Task Force on Electronic Information Tools with the following programme of work subject to the availability of financial and human resources: … (c) Updating and sharing examples of good practice through: (i) Further documentation of case studies in the use of ICT to promote public access to environmental information and public participation in environment-related decision-making, e.g. through an updated and expanded compendium;

  5. Status of ratification Mapping participation in MEAs online Old: http://www.unece.org/env/pp/convmap.htm New: http://unece.unog.ch/enhs/PP/demo/index.html

  6. Status of reporting National implementation reports online Old: as submitted http://www.unece.org/env/pp/reports_implementation_2008.htm as released http://www.unece.org/env/pp/mop3/mop3.docII.htm#NIRs New: http://apps.unece.org/ehlm/pp/NIR/qwery.asp?Quer_ID=NIR8&LngIDg=EN

  7. National Implementation Reports(NIRs) Online • Build and launch NIRs database to facilitate access to National Implementation Reports online •  Contributing to transparency of implementation •  Promoting sharing of good practices •  Facilitating comparative analysis of national and sub-regional gaps and needs • Online reporting system integrates 2008 reports into online database in the Aarhus Clearinghouse

  8. Features • The database is trilingual • Allows multiply searches by •  language •  year of the report (2005 and 2008) •  country name •  question

  9. Compendium of good practice Compendium of good practice in e-access to information, e-participation and e-access to justice • REC project under 2008 UNECE grant • Demonstrated at MOP-3 • 2nd Int’l Conference on the Theory and Practice of Electronic Governance (Cairo, Egypt, December 2008) • 7th meeting of the E-information tools Task Force http://www.rec.org/REC/Programs/PublicParticipation/cases_collection/Default.html

  10. ICT Projects 1. Online preparation and public consultation of national implementation reports • Wiki enterprise application • Promote efficient preparation of NIR • Public consultation on draft NIRs 2. Facilitating Electronic Public Participation and Mitigating Climate Change: Proposed Feasibility Study of Teleconferencing and Webcasting Selected Aarhus Convention Meetings • Distance participation in Aarhus Convention meeting • Aarhus Centres (Belarus, Kazakhstan, Caucasus) • Sligo Institute of Technology, Sligo (Ireland)

  11. Thank you for your attention public.participation@unece.org http://aarhusclearinghouse.org

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